


Adventures in Blowing Up Doors, or: how Scott yelled a lot, cried a little, and eventually got a kiss

by ladanse



Series: 5 Times The Students Figured Something Out about their Professor (and one time they learned the full story) [5]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Humor, M/M, Multi, Scott is Problematic (tm), Scott needs to get his shit together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 23:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11000904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladanse/pseuds/ladanse
Summary: The morning after Magneto and the Prof get their shit together, Scott finds Magneto making coffee in the Westchester kitchen; naturally, this results in yelling, mistakes, and Scott's self-preservation instincts taking a two-day holiday.--"Good morning," says Scott. "Magneto is in the kitchen.""Yes," says Ororo, and keeps reading."No," says Scott, voice rising. Ah. There's the hysteria. "Magneto. He's in our kitchen."Jubilee and Kurt fall through the door, raucous and loud, arguing about something or another. She raises her hand to Magneto for a fist-bump, and he obliges."Jubilee," says Scott. "Kurt. Why is Magneto in the kitchen." It's not a question.Jubilee, inexplicably, bursts into giggles. "Probably because he wants breakfast," she says, and makes herself an Eggo waffle.





	Adventures in Blowing Up Doors, or: how Scott yelled a lot, cried a little, and eventually got a kiss

**Author's Note:**

> me: haha i have most of the next fic written i'll update soon!!!1!  
> me, three months later: hi guys
> 
> anyway get ready for some angst bbs
> 
> context: magneto & the prof made up, abt six months after the events of Apocalypse. jean & scott kissed two weeks ago, jean accidentally invaded scott's mind, and they've been fighting ever since. scott likes to yell. pls go read the rest of the series for the full details of this crackfest :P

 

 

Scott comes down to breakfast that morning feeling pissy and out-of-sorts.

 

This is not unusual; ever since It Happened, he has been, by turns, freaking out (Jean was _in his head_ ) and reliving it (Jesus _fucking_ Christ, she smelled so good and her hands were so _soft_ \- )

 

Anyway. It's been a long couple of days.

 

Breakfast, then. He pours himself a cup of coffee from the fancy percolator, and takes several satisfying sips; then, he roots around in the cupboards for a Poptart, and presses it into the toaster.

 

"Excuse me," says a quiet voice behind him. Scott shuffles over obligingly. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches a tanned arm pour coffee into a glass mug. The Poptart pops out; he suppresses his flinch. He places the Poptart on his plate, and looks up. The "good morning" dies in his throat.

 

Magneto is in the kitchen.

 

Scott blinks, looks down at the Poptart. He considers taking another gulp of coffee. Then, he looks up again.

 

Magneto is, unfortunately, still in the kitchen.

 

Magneto is in the kitchen, wearing a thin white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, hair sticking up wildly along the left side. Scott can see the callouses on his hands and a fading bruise sticking out from underneath his collar and the ropy muscles in his forearms. Magneto leans back against the counter and looks at him; they stare at each other for a moment.

 

Then, Scott picks up his plate, turns around, and heads to the table.

 

Ororo is sitting calmly cross-legged on a chair, a cup of milky tea and a math textbook in front of her.

 

"Good morning," she says.

 

"Good morning," says Scott. "Magneto is in the kitchen."

 

"Yes," says Ororo, and keeps reading.

 

"No," says Scott, voice rising. Ah. There's the hysteria. "Magneto. He's _in our kitchen_."

 

Jubilee and Kurt fall through the door, raucous and loud, arguing about something or another. She raises her hand to Magneto for a fist-bump, and he obliges.

 

"Jubilee," says Scott. "Kurt. Why is Magneto in the kitchen." It's not a question.

 

Jubilee, inexplicably, bursts into giggles. "Probably because he wants breakfast," she says, and makes herself an Eggo waffle. "Also," she says to Kurt. "I win. Pay up."

 

"What was it this time?" says Ororo.

 

Jubilee makes an exaggerated wiggly motion with her eyebrows, which apparently means something, because Ororo snorts, blushes, and looks back at her textbook.

 

There's a commotion in the kitchen, and everyone jumps. Pietro appears, plate full, at the table, and goes to sit down, before turning around to see Magneto in the kitchen.

 

Wonder of wonders, Magneto looks away.

 

"I'm gonna eat in my room," says Pietro, and vanishes.

 

"What," says Scott, "the _fuck_."

 

Then, Jean walks in.

 

Her hair is red as ever in the early-morning sunlight, streaming through the French doors which line the dining room. It's loose today, looking silky and touchable resting on her shoulders and down her back. Her tank top has ridden up on one side, and Scott can see a sliver of pale skin between her shirt and her waistband. She's wearing a silver bracelet on her left wrist, and her feet are bare, nails painted bright red - or is it orange? -

 

Scott catches himself leaning to look, and pinches his own thigh, annoyed. What business does she have, waltzing in here and looking like that, anyway.

 

He is brought abruptly back to the point when Jean marches up squarely in front of Magneto, stops, and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

 

"My telekinetic power is stronger than yours," says Jean. "With training, my telepathic powers will be stronger than the Prof's."

 

"Yes," says Magneto, looking taken aback.

 

"I just want you to be aware that I can destroy you," she says. "And that I will. If - if you fuck this up. At all. In any way."

 

Magneto blinks. "I take your point."

 

"Do you?" says Ororo, from the table. She looks up, and her eyes go white. Every metal object in the room abruptly begins to sparkle with static electricity; her white hair stands on end.

 

Scott, and everyone in the room, is viscerally reminded that Magneto wasn't the only one Apocalypse enhanced.

 

"I do, Ororo," says Erik. "Believe me - I wouldn't - I wouldn't forgive myself either."

 

Both girls seem to be satisfied by that. Slightly pink, Jean opens the freezer and pulls out a waffle for herself.

 

Scott swallows a bite of his Poptart along with most of his pride.

 

"Jean," he says. "Why - um. Why are you threatening Magneto? Also, why is he eating breakfast? Here?"

 

Jean just glares at him loftily until Ororo punches her shoulder, and then glares at Ororo instead. Ororo, not intimidated in the least, sighs and rolls her eyes. "Scott," she says, patiently. "Did you miss the part when Erik came to the mansion yesterday?"

 

"Erik," mutters Scott. "What the fuck." Then, he connects the dots. "Wait - you mean he stayed overnight?"

 

"Um," says Ororo. "Yes." She's not looking at him, eyes staring fixedly at her textbook.

 

Actually, notes Scott, surveying the room, no one is looking at him.

 

That's...strange.

 

"You mean," says Scott, slowly, "while we were all asleep, a completely batshit insane convicted felon was just - what? _Here_? Wandering the halls? Napping on the library couch?" Magneto's brow has gone furrowed, his eyes dark, and a tiny, sensible part of Scott suggests that he should stop yelling and calm the fuck down before Magneto snaps and kills him with his own spoon, or something.

 

That part is very, very small compared to the rest of him, which is out of his mind with hysteria.

 

"And you guys knew about this? You guys were fine with it? Don't you remember what happened the last time - " his voice cracks mightily, " _the last time he_ \- " he tries to breathe, viciously satisfied when Magneto's eyes go pained and he looks away.

 

"Now," says a new, calm, voice at a reasonable volume. The Professor. "I don't think he's completely insane. Perhaps only slightly."

 

_And, Scott_ , says the Professor in his mind, unbearably gentle. _You cannot imagine his pain, his guilt. He knew Alex too -_

 

"Don't say his name," Scott hisses. He clenches his hands into fists, shuts his eyes tight behind the glasses, trying to take deep breaths and resist the urge to open his glasses, just let loose.

 

_Scott_ \- tries the Professor, and he jerks violently, putting his hands over his ears.

 

_Scott_ , says a new voice. Jean. _Breathe_.

 

He takes a deep breath, hating that it's Jean who can calm him down. He feels a flash of her pain - she heard that thought - before she withdraws, and hates himself for that, too.

 

Scott takes another breath, and opens his eyes. "Sorry," he says. He sits down, and takes a bite of his Poptart. It tastes like sawdust, but he doesn't notice, mind still racing.

 

"Wait," he says again, when he's calmer, mouth running ahead of his mind. "We don't have any free rooms, not after Mystique brought in those triplets last week. Where did you even sleep?"

 

No one answers.

 

Scott looks up. If possible, everyone is not looking at him _even more_.

 

Then, because he can't leave it well enough alone, his mind connects the rest of the dots. The bruise on Magneto's shoulder. The Prof's smile. Jean's threats. Magneto's messy hair - oh my god, thinks Scott. Fuck. What the _fuck_ , what the _shitting motherfucking Christ_ -

 

_At least Magneto wasn't wandering the halls_ , says some hysterically calm part of his mind. Jean and Professor X both snort.

 

"What," says Scott, when he finally finds his voice. "Um. Did you." His voice, promptly, stalls out. He takes another breath, and tries again. "You... and the Professor. Are you - did you - um." So much for words.

 

"Yes," says Magneto, taking pity on him. "We fucked."

 

There is a moment of blessed silence. Then:

 

"Erik!" says the Professor, chastising, but the corner of his mouth is twitching. Jean is as red as her hair, and Ororo has buried her face in her hands. Kurt turns and pops away in secondhand embarrassment, but misses and smacks loudly into the doorjamb.

 

There is another moment of silence, in which Magneto sips his coffee with an unfathomably smug smirk.

 

Then, the air is lit up by very loud and very colorful fireworks. "Congrats," says Jubilee, clearly trying for casual. "Also, Kurt, you owe me another five."

 

In the commotion that follows, Scott slides back from the table, stands up, and slips back to his room.

 

*

 

He lies on his bed, glasses off. It forces him to keep his eyes closed, focus on the flutter of his eyelids and his own eyelashes brushing his cheek, rather than the swirling knot of anger and confusion that's currently giving him a headache; he thinks it's the closest he'll ever get to real meditation.

 

Suddenly, there are footsteps, and the door abruptly slams shut. Scott hears someone pulling on his doorknob from the inside, and then a quiet sigh.

 

"Leave," he says, not bothering to keep the venom out of his voice.

 

There's a short bark of not-quite-laughter. "I'm afraid I can't," says Magneto. "They've locked us in until we learn to, as Charles says, 'get along.'"

 

" _Charles_ ," drawls Scott, drawing out the word, letting his voice linger on the R in a ridiculous impression of Magneto's slight German accent. "What, does he not care that you've murdered people?"

 

Magneto lets out a heavy breath, and Scott can feel the frames of his glasses begin to rattle.

 

"Not just _people_ ," continues Scott, voice viciously blank. "You killed my brother. You were there. He fucking blew himself up to save the Prof - save him from _you_ \- and you - "

 

"Summers," says Magneto. His voice is harsh until it breaks in the middle of the word.

 

Scott pauses, breathes. Then, more controlled - "If you think we can get along," he says, "You're wrong."

 

"Summers - "

 

"Go fuck yourself."

 

"I will not leave until - ," says Magneto, gritting his teeth.

 

With a growling yell, Scott sits up, opens his eyes, and blows up the door in a corona of red light. He catches a glimpse of Jean, on fire with surprise, before he shuts his eyes again. "Leave," says Scott, "before that's you."

 

He isn't disturbed again.

 

*

 

The first time Scott leaves his room that day - for dinner - Ororo gives him a look filled with enough sympathy that his eyes glow brighter with irritation, refracting into his glasses and tinting the world around him laser-red. He winces.

 

"Scott," she starts, softly, "are you okay?"

 

He turns around without a word and walks back to his room. Worse than a houseful of mutants ribbing him for information is these guilt-ridden eyes and gentle words, as if talking softer will bring Alex back.

 

Newsflash, assholes: It won't. Nothing can.

 

Scott blinks away tears and grimaces - crying with his mutation means the water instantly steams - and walks into his room, slamming his wreck of a door shut, and then opening it and slamming it shut again because he can. He lies back on his bead, stomach growling.

 

Ten minutes later, there's a whir of air and a hot plate on his nightstand. "I gave you my string beans," says Pietro, leaning carefully in the doorway.

 

"Gee," says Scott, "thanks," but there's no heat in his voice.

 

"Hey, cheer up," Pietro replies, amicable. "At least chewing through them all will take your mind off my asshole dad."

 

"I don't think - your what?" Scott looks up, hand halfway to the fork.

 

Pietro grins, but it's brittle. "Eat, you grumpy shit," he says, and blurs away.

 

*

 

So Magneto is Pietro's father. And the Prof's...ex? Boyfriend? Occasional fuck? Scott grimaces - that was not an image he needed - and shuts down that train of thought before it continues. But, he decides, if the Prof is going to let Magneto stay - if he's going to pretend that everything's all right and roll along in that wheelchair with his insufferable air of enigma - Scott is going to pack up and leave.

 

Pietro seems fine with it, a traitorous voice whispers in his head. It's not like he didn't lose people.

 

"But not his brother," says Scott, out loud. Then he presses his hands to his face, feeling slightly insane. Talking to yourself, that's how it starts.

 

At least Magneto's not _his_ dad; he much prefers a father he's never met to one who's a killer.

 

*

 

Scott sleeps very little. The first sound of noise the next morning - Ororo's boots, the squeak of the Prof's wheels - wakes him from his light doze, and he takes a breath before swinging himself out of bed to get dressed.

 

He's pulling on his socks when the Prof wheels into his doorway; Scott can see the top of his shiny head through the holes in his door.

 

"Come in," he calls, sardonically.

 

"Thank you, Scott," says the Professor, quietly serious. Scott resists groaning; he's not sure he's up for a Talk at seven in the morning on a Tuesday.

 

"Look," he says. "Before you start, let me just say this. Your - boyfriend, or whatever, is a murderer. He could have stopped Apocalypse and instead he chose his side, and my brother is dead because of it." Scott looks Professor X squarely in the eye. "This isn't the first time something like this happened, either. That kid he brought in a few weeks ago - Lauren - she's seven. And she's not even the youngest person here. Can you promise - not even to me, but to her - that he won't lose it again? That's all I wanna know. I trust you, Prof, but I just - I think you're lying to yourself."

 

The edge of the Professor's lips pursed slightly. "Thank you, Scott, for your explanation," he said, which was quite frankly the most condescending bullshit answer Scott had been given in his life. "I can assure you, however," the Professor continues, "of Magneto's sincerity. And his trustworthines."

 

"You're biased," Scott points out, gritting his teeth. "I can't sit still when - "

 

"It's not as though there are not countermeasures in place - "

 

"Countermeasures?" says Scott. Un- _fucking_ -believable. "You're monitoring his thoughts? Does he know that? And what if that sets him off - "

 

"There's no need to jump to the worst conclusion," says the Professor, his eyes suddenly blazing. "I wouldn't dare - "

 

"He might not give you a choice!" Scott yells. "If he lost it, would you use your mutation to shut him down? Because when you do, he's going walk out the front door and never come back."

 

"If ever I made another mistake like that," says a gravelly voice from the doorway, "Charles would have nothing to do with my leaving." Magneto's eyes blaze with an intensity that says he might actually mean what he's saying. It just pisses Scott off.

 

"Tell that to all the metal you'll warp when the Prof fucks with your mind to keep you down," says Scott, and watches in satisfaction when both of them wince.

 

"It's not - "

 

"It is," says Scott, cutting the Professor off. "That's exactly what you'll do. Telepaths go into your mind and they fuck with it like it's their right - "

 

"How dare - " stumbles the Professor, and Scott feels an angry brush over his mind.

 

"Go ahead," he taunts. "Use your powers. Shut me up, say your due. I know you want to."

 

"You have a right to get this out," says the Professor, knuckles white on the wheels of his chair. "I shouldn't - "

 

"But you almost did," says Scott, viciously satisfied. "No wonder you built that stupid helmet," he adds, turning to Magneto. "Even _I_ would wear that ugly-ass - "

 

"Would you," says Magneto, and everything about him has gone still and dangerous. Scott's sense of self-preservation comes abruptly back online, and he stops talking.

 

"Charles," says Magneto. "If you will give Summers and I a moment."

 

"Erik - "

 

"Go."

 

The Professor wheels out without a word.

 

"You will wait there," says Magneto. It's very clearly not a suggestion; Scott steps forward anyway. The metal in his zipper abruptly drops to freezing, making him yelp, and then he is pushed back by his zipper into his seat.

 

"All those words about my ruthlessness, and you seem to have forgotten that unlike your Professor, I _am_ willing to use my powers. Now _stay_."

 

Scott stays.

 

*

 

Magneto comes back into the room holding the helmet in question, and Scott's stomach goes cold.

 

"I didn't actually mean - "

 

"Then you shouldn't have said it," says Magneto. Scott can still feel his grip on his zipper, and debates ditching his jeans. The instant it crosses his mind - as if Magneto is now a telepath too - Scott feels all of the blood in his body pulse, out of time with his heartbeat.

 

He gasps, panic flashing through him. "Don't." he says, hating how shaky his voice is. "I didn't mean - "

 

"Didn't you?" says Magneto, meeting his gaze squarely. The answer is yes, and Scott looks away. "Put it on."

 

Scott takes it, and turns it over in his hands. The metal is cold, smooth, almost innocuous, but something about it is like holding water. Scott has the suspicion that his powers wouldn't leave a dent. He turns it back over and, squeezing his fingers together to stop them from shaking, and slips it over his head.

 

The silence in his head is sudden, echoing, and cold. He shakes his head, waiting for the feeling to dissipate. When it doesn't, he puts his hands under the helmet, pressing them to his temples.

 

"So?" asks Magneto. Scott looks up, expecting amusement in his eyes, but instead he finds only a deep sorrow. "How does it feel? The solitude?"

 

"It's." Scott's voice comes out a rasp, and he clears his throat. "Cold," he says, finally, blinking and shaking his head again. Distantly, he notes that his hands are shaking in earnest. "I can't - I can't. Uh. Feel her."

 

"For me, it felt heavy," says Magneto, taking a seat on Scott's desk chair. "I am an introspective man, and I had never realized that Charles was lightening my load. Not until I shut him out."

 

"It feels like the day I first got my powers," says Scott. "Everything was cold because all the heat - it was in my eyes. I couldn't stop shivering."

 

"You're shivering now," says Magneto. "Get a sweater and you can keep it."

 

" _Keep_ \- "

 

"Unless you don't want to," says Magneto, and Scott reaches up and yanks it off his head.

 

"No," he says, shutting his eyes and trying to breathe. "I don't."

 

*

  
(Before dinner, Scott apologizes to the Professor, still feeling the touch of that God-forsaken metal against his skin. _I understand_ , says the Professor. _That doesn't make it okay._ Scott replies, _You don't have to forgive me._

 

The Prof, being the Prof, does anyway.)

 

*

 

After dinner, Scott curls up in a library chair, nursing a headache and attempting to avoid the others' curious glances.

 

"Hey," says a quiet voice, and he looks up to find Jean in front of him.

 

"I know we're not talking," she says, "because of. Um."

 

Scott snorts, and it seems to give her courage. Jean takes a breath. "Earlier today," she continues. "You were gone. You just - you disappeared, and I thought - for a second - that something happened."

 

Scott blinks up at her. "It didn't. Magneto - we were just - "

 

"You don't have to explain," says Jean, quickly. "I'm just glad you're okay."

 

Scott Summers, Cyclops, mutant and brother, takes a deep breath and tries to be brave. "When I was - gone," he begins, "it was because I tried on Magneto's helmet." He watches Jean's face go shocked and then stony. "I couldn't feel you in my head. It was - everything was cold. I never want to feel that way again, Jean."

 

She stares at him, and then deliberately reaches a hand to touch his temple. He can feel her slither into his mind, and resolutely doesn't flinch.

 

This is okay, he tells himself, and watches her smile, lets it fill him up.

 

Then - "You really think my nail polish is hot?"

 

Scott jerks back, spluttering, and she bursts into laughter.

 

"Hey - that's not - I -"

 

Jean seems to collect herself, and then her eyes go flinty and determined; she leans down and presses a kiss to his open mouth.

 

"See you later, Scott," and then she's gone.

 

After a suspended moment, Scott raises his hand towards the door in an aborted motion - is he going to follow her? - and feels his stomach drop, because there is Magneto in the doorway, smiling slightly. He gives Scott a little approving nod and wink - an actual _wink_ \- and slinks quietly out of sight.

 

Several minutes later, Scott manages a coherent thought.

 

"What the _fuck_ ," he says, and buries his face in his hands.

**Author's Note:**

> i hc scott as growing up without a father figure, so alex was his go-to for that.
> 
> honestly, my fav part of this? is that jean apparently spontaneously combusts when surprised :P
> 
> kudos and comments are my saviors. find me on my [tumblr](http://www.bollywood-and-phoenix-feather.tumblr.com)!


End file.
